JRA distances itself from Louis Botha road upgrade delays after tweets by fuming Mboweni

The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) has distanced itself from delays in the implementation of the R260m Louis Botha road improvement project.

TimesLIVE reported on Wednesday that finance minister Tito Mboweni had expressed disappointment over the fact that the project, which started in mid-2018, has not moved forward.

"I was so excited about this project," he tweeted. "I drove on that road today, and it seems stuck. This has been going on for a long time now. I am not getting answers."

He said he would visit the JRA offices on Thursday to get answers.

On Thursday, the JRA issued a statement saying that the project fell under the ambit of the department of transport and the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA).

"The JRA cannot comment in detail regarding the Louis Botha upgrade project because the project belongs to the department of transport. The department and the JDA will respond to the minister of finance using the proper channels in responding to all the concerns raised the minister," said the agency.

The R260m project, which started about 18 months ago, included the following construction work:

• demolishing an existing bridge and interchange at Watt Street;
• building a new link from Rautenbach Avenue to Watt Street;
• upgrading the Pretoria Main Road intersection; and
• constructing new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lanes and a station.